I started posting on HowieinSeattle in 11/04, following progressive American politics in the spirit of Howard Dean's effort to "Take Our Country Back." I decided to follow my heart and posted on seattleforbarackobama from 2/07 to 11/08.--"Howie Martin is the Abe Linkin' of progressive Seattle."--Michael Hood.

Friday, October 01, 2010

Taibbi: "Some Good News" (Delaware edition)

I spend enough time pointing out when the Senate leadership screws things up, I suppose I should mention it when they get something right. Got this notice from Ted Kaufman's office today:

Majority Leader Harry Reid today appointed U.S. Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE) as a member of the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP), which oversees the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Kaufman will fill the position on COP formerly held by Elizabeth Warren. The Chair of the panel will be elected by the three Democratic appointees.

Kaufman’s appointment to COP is effective immediately, while he continues to serve in the Senate until his successor is sworn in on November 15, 2010. The Panel is slated to expire six months after the expiration of TARP, on April 3, 2011. Although TARP is expiring this weekend, many of its programs will continue to spend money, and COP is expected to write six more reports.

Kaufman is a great choice for the job. As Arianna Huffington points out in her new book "Third World America" (I ran into Arianna last night and just started reading her book), Kaufman has been sort of a test case proving that legislators can actually do their jobs the way they are supposed to when you remove the need to constantly raise money from their job description. Kaufman didn't need to raise money for a run, because he was appointed, and didn't need to raise money for re-election, because he's stepping down. I don't think it's a coincidence that he's been the realest guy on the Hill on the Wall Street stuff (along with a few others like Bernie Sanders and Sherrod Brown). So it's definitely good to see him get the COP job.